Review: ‘Gringo’ tries (and fails) to be provocative

The good news is David Oyelowo is a terrific comedic actor. (Who knew!)

The bad news is that the vehicle for discovery, Nash Edgerton’s “Gringo,” is a contrived action comedy that is trying its hardest to shock and offend, but, you know, in a funny, cool B-movie way that involves someone’s toe getting cut off with wire clippers and Charlize Theron, a seductress in a corner suite, talking a lot about sex.

Oyelowo plays Harold, a Nigerian immigrant and middle manager for a pharma company run by his friend Richard (Joel Edgerton). His bosses are mass-producing a marijuana pill so that they’ll be ready to conquer the market when it’s legalized in the U.S., but unbeknownst to Harold, they’re sustaining their business on illegal sales in Mexico facilitated by a local drug lord (Carlos Corona).

We know Harold’s life is sad because we’re introduced to him in the middle of a bitter Chicago winter. He takes his pup out in the freezing cold in the morning and then goes to meet with his accountant, who informs Harold that his wife, Bonnie (Thandie Newton), is digging them into massive debt with her costly and unsuccessful interior design business. When Harold suggests that perhaps Bonnie not rent out expensive office space while she’s still launching the business and has only one client, she scoffs.

Greedy, selfish wife. Emasculated provider husband who is also mistreated at work. A soulless set of bosses, one a vacuous bro, the other (Theron’s Elaine) a woman who uses sex, dirty talk and unbuttoned silk blouses to close business deals. That’s the story setup for “Gringo.” (Those bosses, by the way, are involved in a shady business arrangement in Mexico, and they’re ready to send Harold packing the moment their secret merger goes through.)

As the plot is set into motion, Elaine, Richard and Harold go off to Mexico to cut off the illegal arm of their business, which Harold knows nothing about. None of them speaks Spanish, not even Harold, who is supposed to be the main liaison there. Naturally, the drug lord they’re in business with, the Black Panther (no relation to T’Challa), isn’t ready to give up his weed pill supply and sets off to kidnap Harold.

Every character we meet in Mexico, whether it’s the office manager with a half dozen kids, the sleazy hotel manager or the bartender, is either connected to the drug cartels or ready to sign up to get a few extra bucks.

There’s also a subplot about a younger couple Miles (Harry Treadaway) and Sunny (Amanda Seyfried) who travel from L.A. to Mexico to steal one of these weed pills (Sunny is of course oblivious). But their story never really pays off or connects in any meaningful way.

“Gringo” gets some life when Richard dispatches his brother Mitch (Sharlto Copley), a bearded ex-special ops guy, to save Harold. The two have a funny chemistry together, but it’s a little too brief and too late. It’s Oyelowo who emerges without a scratch from “Gringo.” The actor actually has some quite amusing moments involving his great, high-pitched scream and his solid comedic timing. If only the movie was a better showcase.